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 |   The simplicity of my day to day. |
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This is where I write my thoughts, feelings and my daily trials, tribulations and happy things
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Australia is freaking out. We have an outbreak of Covid in NSW There is a two week shutdown and now people have escaped from Sydney and have brought it to Perth! We are once more instructed to wear masks, no crowds etc. Last week all restrictions had been lifted. Yes not even a one. We were back to normal. No limits on numbers in restaurants, cafes, bars or sporting fixtures. No face masks. Nada. We, hubby and I were thinking of travelling to Queensland soon to see our family, but anyone travelling back to Perth from Queensland has to quarantine for two weeks! I wonder if this will ever actually end. Maybe when we’re all vaccinated, the borders can open, the virus will be allowed to do its worst and we’ll just get a mild illness. Watching the news tonight and the Tour ‘d France cycle race I wondered about the stupidity of people. If you saw the incident I’m referring to, you’ll see a spectator holding out a metre long sign towards the cameras as the peloton went by. The sign was in French so I can’t tell you what it said, other than to guess. It probably said, “look Mum, I’m here.” Anyway the sign hit a rider and caused a pileup, multiple injuries and even worse. I did hear that there was a death. So unnecessary. Humans can be really stupid. |
I need to vent! My husband and I are 77 years old and we are still worrying every single day about a fifty year old daughter. I wish someone had told me when I was first considering being a parent that this choice will have ramifications for the rest of your life. Does parenting ever finish? The answer is NO! Anyway I shall not burden anyone who may come across today’s blog with the ins and outs of our troubles, but perhaps I could suggest some ways we deal with the stress. Today we went down to the river, a beautiful peaceful place called Lilac Hill Park. The best thing about this place is the coffee van lady, who waits patiently for customers. Whenever we go there are only us and we have an extra hot coffee with a blueberry muffin. We sit on a bench and share the muffin between us and our dog. It really is a huge muffin! Then we stroll down to the water’s edge and watch the water birds doing their thing. How could anyone feel stress in such an environment? This week has been an extra trial though I must admit, and it took me a little longer of watching the pelicans today, to de-stress. The hot water system has gone bust today. It’s either a cold shower or nothing. I chose nothing as it was nearly freezing outside today. Then my husband got a call from his result of an MRI he had on his prostate last week. The specialist has booked him in for a biopsy on the 19 th July which happens to be my birthday. He said there is a concern about prostatic cancer. However my husband has taken the news in his stride but has instructed me on the pain of death not to tell our family. He says they will only fuss. So I’ll just tell you. You won’t tell anyone. Will you? |
I've been stretching my imagination today. Totally out of my comfort zone, I'm trying to write a story for the Anthology; Blimprider's Fireside Tales. On the first day of the month, Blimprider, selects a new prompt. There are two parts to the prompt. First the character and then the situation. This month is: Character, someone new to the district. Situation: An asteroid is hurtling towards the Earth. I've managed to write about 1500 words. As usual the setting is in Australia. The deserts here are ideal for a visitation or an invasion or a crash landing of an alien rock. The coldest day of the year today. Our little town was the coldest in the State! Well at least it was the shortest day. Winter Solstice 2021 June 21st. Tomorrow the sun starts to shine a minute longer than today!  |
The coldest day for a year. That was Perth this morning as I stepped out at 6.30 am for my morning walk. Not quite light, no wind and Brrr. However as I watched the news tonight and saw temperatures of 129 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of the US, I wasn’’t half thankful for the weather here. What’s happening that parts of the earth are experiencing such terrible heat? It’s at times like this, hearing about such extremes, I’m happy to be the age I am. Is this how the World is going to end up? People being roasted alive? Who is going to be the world’s saviour? Do we need a real life Superman? Once again Robert Waltz  blog has given me food for thought. If we are going to have to rely on some super powered individual, I think Superman might be the guy. Robert mentioned Batman and Spider-Man, they are just not going to cut it are they? We need someone or something that can shift our planet a few degrees into the shade! . |
I had my Covid 19 shot today. Australia is so far behind so many other countries with their immunisation programme. It’s probably a good thing that there are so few of us compared to elsewhere. Australians have on the whole been quite reluctant to get the vaccination because of a couple of reasons. 1. Because we haven’t really had the disease to speak of. 2. We had a few cases of the vaccine if responsible for a few deaths owing to blood clots with one of the vaccines we are using here. Anyway we decided tomorrow do our bit for our fellow countrymen and so far so good. John has a headache and has gone to bed but it’s probably all in his imagination. I’ve just been reading Robert Waltz blog and am now craving French Onion soup. It’s really chilly here today and the thought of that steaming bowl of soup topped with grilled bread and cheese has me drooling. I can’t be bothered going out again and purchasing the amount of onions needed though. Thanks for the Robert. |
What a lovely day I had today with my family. I went to my granddaughter’s baby shower. When did such things start? It must be a relatively new thing. I know for certain whenI was having babies it would have seen as presumptuous. I think we must have been more cautious, you know, not counting your chickens before they’ve hatched, sort of thing. Perhaps medically we are more advanced now and we can be pretty sure of a good outcome. But I still felt today as if we are pushing our luck. I’d much rather have a celebration after the birth. Twenty five years ago my daughter had a stillbirth at thirty six weeks of pregnancy so I know things like that can and do happen. Anyway it was fun. We had games, one of which was having to guess the ages of the mother and father-to-be, from photos of them at various ages when they were under ten years of age. I actually won a bottle of Prosecco. Then we had to guess the weight sex and when this baby’s born. It’s actually due on my birthday, July 19th. That would be a lovely gift. |
It’s cold! 🥶 Well, for Perth it is. Maximum of 13 degrees today! That’s the talking point of the day. Everywhere I went, people were huddled into thick coats and jumpers, looking shocked. The big news of course is The Sting. You must have heard about the police sting? Three years in the making, the secret was kept. The dark web site the criminals thought was safe from the authorities’ prying eyes and ears, was actually a site set up by the FBI and dozens of other organisations working undercover. Even here in little old Perth, lots of arrests were made today, money and drugs seized. How surprised the criminals were. Driving around in their expensive cars, showing off, thumbing their noses at the police who up until now were unable to arrest them. It was quite serendipitous for us as my husband and I have just finished watching ‘Startup’ a three season programme on Netflix. It was all about the dark web, something I was pretty ignorant about until recently. Sometimes something good happens on a cold day. |
I listened to a programme on the radio today about teenagers. I didn’t think anything could shock me anymore, but I was distressed to hear an interview with a doctor who’d written a book called Today’s Teenagers. The main point of difference to today’s kids and those of latter years, is the amount of porn these kids have access to at such a young age. Boys earlier than girls. We’re talking ages of 11 years and up. The most shocking thing to me was when she said she’d had a young boy aged fifteen asked her to prescribe Viagra because he couldn’t get aroused anymore unless he watched full on porn. His girlfriend didn’t do it for him! The amount of violent sex, girls are being subjected to because they (boys and girls) think this is what sex is all about is distressing to hear about. There is a campaign now aimed at high school students here, about respect and making sure that that both parties are agreeable and wanting the same thing. I can’t help but reflect on my teenage years, how naive I was, but I’m pleased I had that naivety and innocence. Too much, too soon with everything seems to be the lot of the youngsters today. Forced to grow up too soon. The one thing I so agreed with the author of this book was the importance of sleep. Most aren’t getting anywhere near the amount of sleep they need. Perhaps they are scared they are missing out by not having sex by the age of 14. So sad. |
June fifth 4th blog for
I’ve just been listening to a Podcast by the author of his new book called the Kindness Revolution. What an amazing man Hugh Mackay is. Now in his mid eighties he’s been social commentator throughout his life. He’s an Australian writer and has written about kindness and happiness, not in a religious or preaching way but more to help us live our lives, maybe in a more simple, or at least not so aggressively perhaps. The podcast can be heard by checking out ‘Conversations with Richard Fidler’ on Australian ABC radio. I think his last five minutes gave me food for thought when he was talking about death. The interviewer, Sarah, was asking him how he felt about dying and if he feared death. He said that in his experience people on their death beds hoped they’d been a kind person, that they’d been a good parent, or friend and that they hoped they’d be remembered kindly or fondly. He then said “you know, why wait until you’re dying?” Let your last thoughts at the end of the day be “have I been kind today. Have I really listened to someone who needed a friend?” It’s just as easy to be kind than not. He gave an example of how humans have the capacity to be kind to people they don’t know even when it’s an inconvenience to themselves. The interviewer suggested that maybe we might help someone to make ourselves feel better. The example was: You’re running late, it’s pouring with rain. A person on the street, spills her groceries all over the wet road. So, naturally you stop and help, you get wet, cold and now you’re even later for your appointment. You feel worse not better. So why would we do that? Why make ourselves late, cold and wet to help a complete stranger? Because we’d feel like a terrible person if we didn’t? He thinks as human beings most of us have an innate kindness within us all somewhere. Anyway I think I’m going to take it on board. I shall ask myself at the end of each day: Have you been as kind as you could have been today? |
This is my third blog for the Bard’s Hall blogging challenge. It’s been a strange day. A truck rolled over right in front of us this morning. He was turning onto the on ramp to the Freeway. Luckily we weren’t going onto the freeway but going straight along the highway. If we had turned with the truck I very much doubt I’d be telling you this story. It made me realise how fragile our lives are. One minute you can be blissfully getting on with your day, in my case going to pick up my new glasses, then the next, you’re spattered across the Highway. The on ramp is still closed as yet another truck barrelled into the roll over and completely blocked the entrance. There has been no news as to the condition of the drivers yet, but I hope they are not too badly injured. Anyway I carried on and picked up my new glasses. I don’t know whether all you other spectacle wearers about there, feel the same about replacement glasses as I do. I really hate selecting a new pair for a start. You are shown hundreds of frames and you try them on but of course you can’t see to tell what they look like. I always feel at the mercy of some young assistant who exclaims that they look really great. It’s a harrowing experience. Then the day comes when you pick them up. The store is so brightly lit that it shows every flaw on your face. You slip them on under the gaze of the assistant and look in the mirror. Shock is the first emotion. Who is that old person? Then, especially if the prescription is stronger you get the feeling you’re in another dimension. Anyway I’m wearing them as I write this blog, I think they are an improvement as the reading part of the multi vision glasses are a stronger prescription. My husband liked them, he said I look sophisticated! I might slip my old ones back on for a bit though, I don’t quite look myself.🤓 |
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